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Back 2 School Fiesta! Is it that time of year again already? Davenport Parks and Recreation is gearing up for the Back 2 School Fiesta and they would love for you to attend! This is a great community event that will take place in a very fun, family friendly environment. It is a Family Fiesta, celebrating a fantastic summer and starting off the new school year right with a little bit of Mexican flare! This family fun event has games, sports, crafts, activities, bingo, dunk tanks, pi単atas, and more with prizes of back-to-school supplies! Join the fun on Friday, August 10th at Prairie Heights Park, 5600 Eastern Avenue in Davenport from 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
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Did you know that BBBSMV has accounts on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter? Connect with us: @BBBSMV on Twitter, search for Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Mississippi Valley on Facebook, or BBBSMV1 on YouTube!
BIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS of the Mississippi Valley
Coaches Corner AUGUST 201 2
Quad City Bags Classic Emily Jepsen, BBBSMV
Team registrations are now being accepted for the Quad City Bags Classic. Enjoy the great weather, a little bit of fun and competition and support two important youth organizations. The Quad City Bags Classic is sponsored by Tri State Windows, Siding and Roofing and the Quad Cities River Bandits and will be held on Saturday, September 8th at Modern Woodmen Park.
tournaments. The beneficiaries of tournament entry fees and sponsorships are Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Mississippi Valley and Boys and Girls Club of the Mississippi Valley. Volunteers are also needed to help set up and take down the bag boards and other event items before and after the event. To sign up a team or for more information, please call 563-323-8006 or visit www.bbbsmv.org.
This isn’t just any bags tournament! This tournament is held ON the field at Modern Woodmen Park. A limited number of 144 teams will get the chance to test their skills as 72 custom-built, regulation-size bag sets are placed throughout the outfield of Modern Woodmen Park. Registration is $40 per team and each team is guaranteed at least 5 games throughout the day. Teams will first play within a pool of teams (guaranteed at least 5 games), following by two "flight" volunteers, Snowbird volunteers, Putt-a-Round volunteers, Plant Sale volunteers, Bowl for Kids There’s more to our organization than just Bigs Sake volunteers, event planning committees, Big and Littles, we also need volunteers to help with: Impact volunteers, QC Bags Classic volunteers and office support, workplace tours for matches, match much more! Contact us at 563-323-8006 to find activity planning, Impact Circles, vendor event out how you can help support BBBSMV.
Looking for More Ways to Volunteer?
Encourage your co-workers to become MENTORS! We’d be happy to set up an employee volunteer presentation at your place of work. Please contact Emily Jepsen at 563-323-8006 or ejepsen@bbbs-mv.org today!
BIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS of the Mississippi Valley
Coaches Corner AUGUST 2012
Dear Match Coach My Little and I are matched in the community-based program and do spend a lot of our time together outside of mine or his/her home. During our last meeting, we ran into some of my Little’s friends and they wondered how we knew each other. My Little looked at me to respond, but I did not want to embarrass them. How do we go about explaining our relationship to friends, peers or extended family?
conversation towards what they think of the match now and what they tell their family and friends at school about it. Eventually, the conversation can lead to a, “Well, what would we tell someone we ran into?” This directly answers the questions, and makes for a great opportunity to reminisce!
If you and your Little are a rather new match or are not very open with your communication, I would suggest that you ask What a great question! First, I would like to your little directly what he or she feels comsay how awesome it is that you and your fortable telling his/her peers or friends. Your Little are exploring activities out in the com- Little may not want anyone to know that munity. But, I know that there are many they have a mentor, or they may just not be people that both you, and your Little, can able to put into words what being a mentor run into during your outings. Also, as lunch means to their friends. Perhaps you can help buddies, a lot of the students not involved in them verbalize what your match means and BBBS at our school-based locations do not what type of relationship the two of you know what a “Big” is, either. Depending on have. For our lunch buddy matches, it where your relationship is at with your Little, may be a good idea to ask your Little to inI would suggest a couple different ways to vite a friend during a visit once you have bring this up during your time together. gotten to know each other a little bit. This makes for a great opportunity to help the If you and your Little have been matched for Little’s friend understand your relationship a while and have established rather open and will also help you better understand how communication, I would encourage you to your Little interacts with peers. talk about this during one of your next meetings or during a car ride. You can start Whether you and your Little are loud and out this conversation with your Little by proud or slightly reserved about your match, bringing up your first impressions of the what’s important is that you both feel commatch or a funny story about one of your fortable. first meetings. Then proceed to direct the
Xstream Cleanup
Join other volunteers as we help clean up Quad City waterways on Saturday, August 11, from 8:30 a.m. until 11:30 a.m. Help us in heavy or light duty capacities as we clear litter and invasive plants from the creeks and drainage ways in Scott and Rock Island Counties. Register online today at www.xstreamcleanup.org.
In addition to feeling great about helping out your community and the environment, participants will also receive breakfast treats, beverages, a free t-shirt, and a StudioOne Pass to River Roots Live. Please wear long pants and shoes that you don’t mind getting dirty. Clean up supplies will be provided, but feel free to bring your own. If you have any questions, call 563-3869575 or visit their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/xtreamcleanup.
BIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS of the Mississippi Valley
Coaches Corner AUGUST 201 2
Teacher Evaluation Results subjects since the beginning of the school year.
Meredith Price, BBBSMV Just recently, our teacher Program Outcome Evaluations came out with significant results. The importance of Program Outcome Evaluations (POE) is that it helps determine the impact that the Big Brother Big Sister agency has on youth. POEs have five indicators that children are measured in, these are: child confidence, child competence, child caring, academic, and mentor-teacher relationships. More specifically, child confidence looks at if children have gained self-confidence and acquired a positive outlook on life, child competence looks at whether children have improved their decision-making abilities, child caring looks at whether children have developed loving and trusting relationships, and academic indicators look to see whether children have improved in any school
With an 88% response rate, the results for Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Mississippi Valley were astounding! For 2012, Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Mississippi Valley showed that 72% of children showed an improvement in their self-confidence, 56% of children had improved their school performance, 66% had showed trust towards their teacher, 71% had showed improvement in their grades, and 57% of the teachers indicated that they have repeated contact with their student’s mentor. We would like to thank and congratulate all of our Big Brothers and Big Sisters! Let’s try to make an even greater impact next year!
HAPPY MATCH ANNIVERSARY TO OUR MATCHES Year(s)
Little’s First Name
Big’s First Name
Big’s Last Name
7 6 6 4
Savannah Brandi Brittnee Tyler
Sandi Allyson Stacy Kristine
Davis Sedlak Garrow Kilburg
4
Ryan
Dennis
Reynolds
3 1 1
K’yi Lakinda David
Bill Emily John
Mitchell Johnson Wickwire
We Need More Raves! Please e-mail your match coach with a great “rave about your Little” story that can be shared in our monthly newsletter!
THANKS TO THESE GREAT SPONSORS These area business sponsors have provided a high level of support for the Big Brother Big Sister programs. Without their support it would be very difficult to provide the programming we do in our region.
BIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS of the Mississippi Valley
Coaches Corner AUGUST 2012
BIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS of the Mississippi Valley
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AUGUST 2012 SUNDAY
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31 Mississippi Valley Fair (MVF) begins
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August Community Activities Mississippi Valley Fair: Jul 31-Aug 5 Check out http://www.mvfair.com to learn more about the daily activities or print off a brochure at http:// www.mvfair.com/MVFAIR2012Brochure.pdf. Great River Tug Fest: Aug 9-11. Carnival rides, live entertainment, parade, food, arts and craft vendors and one of the largest fireworks displays on Friday night over the Mississippi River. http:// www.tugfest.com! Quad Cities Free Summer Concert Series. You can find a free concert every night of the week throughout the summer at several different locations in the Quad Cities. Visit www.visitquadcities.com and click on the Summer Concert Series link to learn more. Quad City Air Show: Sept 1-2. Check it out at http://www.quadcityairshow.com! Rock Island Grand Prix: Sept 1-2. Go-kart racing through the streets of Downtown Rock Island! Learn more at http:// www.ridistrict.com!